Russia launches Luna-25 to the Moon's South Pole in a race for water ice
MOSCOW: Russia Launches First Moon-Landing Mission in Nearly 50 Years to Explore Lunar South Pole for Water Ice
Russia has embarked on its first lunar landing mission since 1976 with the aim of achieving a soft landing on the lunar south pole, a region believed to harbor valuable deposits of water ice. The new Russian lunar mission is in competition with India's Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander, as well as with lunar exploration initiatives by the United States and China, which also target the lunar south pole.
A Soyuz 2.1v rocket carrying the Luna-25 spacecraft was launched from the Vostochny cosmodrome, located 3,450 miles (5,550 km) east of Moscow, at 2:11 a.m. Moscow time on Friday (1111 GMT on Thursday). The spacecraft's upper stage propelled the lander out of Earth's orbit and towards the moon over an hour later, as confirmed by Russia's space agency Roscosmos.
The lander is projected to touch down on the moon's surface on August 21, according to Yuri Borisov, Russia's space chief. Luna-25, roughly the size of a small car, is designed to operate on the moon's south pole for about a year, investigating areas where traces of water ice have been detected by scientists.
The success of the Luna-25 mission carries significant importance, especially as Russia faces sanctions from the West due to its actions in Ukraine. This moon mission, long in the planning, serves to showcase Russia's capabilities and independence in space exploration following its strained relations with Western space agencies after the Ukraine conflict.
Asif Siddiqi, a professor of history at Fordham University, noted that Russia's lunar aspirations are tied to both scientific exploration and asserting national power on the global stage.
While US astronaut Neil Armstrong is famous for being the first person to walk on the moon in 1969, the Soviet Union's Luna-2 mission reached the lunar surface in 1959, and Luna-9 achieved the first soft landing on the moon in 1966. Afterward, Moscow shifted its focus to exploring Mars, and Russia has not sent scientific probes beyond Earth's orbit since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The exploration of the moon has garnered interest from major powers such as the United States, China, India, Japan, and the European Union. While some lunar missions have failed, the pursuit of water ice on the moon's south pole holds significant potential. Extracting water ice could be used for various purposes, including fuel, oxygen, and drinking water.
Maxim Litvak, head of the planning group for the Luna-25 scientific equipment, emphasized that the mission's crucial task is to explore uncharted lunar territory. Data from orbit indicates signs of ice in the soil of the landing area.
Roscosmos has estimated that the journey to the moon will take five days. The spacecraft will spend 5-7 days in lunar orbit before descending to one of three possible landing sites near the south pole. This timeline suggests that Luna-25 might reach the lunar surface before or around the same time as its Indian counterpart, Chandrayaan-3.
Chandrayaan-3, launched by India, aims to conduct experiments for two weeks. Luna-25, weighing 1.8 tons and equipped with 31 kg (68 pounds) of scientific instruments, will use a scoop to collect rock samples from depths of up to 15 cm (6 inches) in order to analyze the presence of frozen water."
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